


From Slave to Sith

by 3D_Star



Category: Star Wars Legends: The Old Republic
Genre: F/F, F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-29
Updated: 2018-01-29
Packaged: 2019-03-11 05:06:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13517181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/3D_Star/pseuds/3D_Star
Summary: This is the story of Nixium Lau who went from a lowly slave born on Ilum to one of the most powerful sith in history.





	From Slave to Sith

**Chapter 1 – The beginning**

It was cold, so cold. Nixium could barely feel his fingers anymore. The weather on Ilum was not kind to a slave working the mines. Nixium felt like he had been digging forever. His stomach made a rumbling sound and he realized by the bored look of the taskmaster that it would be a long time before he would get any food. Nixium sighed and glanced at the woman next to him. She had long black hair and was thin almost gaunt like Nixium. Unlike Nixium who was sixteen years old this woman was in her mid thirties. The woman next to him was his mother, Daliya, and she looked much worn out. Nixium gave her a small reassuring smile and she smiled tiredly back. The cold had made her fingers slightly blue and she gripped the pickaxe with shaky hands. Seeing his mother like this still hurt after so many years.

 

Nixium had faint memories of a time when they were not slaves, just poor people living on the cold planet Ilum. He and his mother had lived in a little cottage and his mother had been hunting the wildlife for food and clothes. It had been a trying yet peaceful existence. That had changed when the Sith Empire had decided to start mining on Ilum. They needed people to dig and Nixium and his mother had been forced into slavery. Nixium had only been six years old, but he still remembered a time when he ran free in the snow. Nowadays he hated the snow. It was cold, wet and got everywhere. Snow was also very dangerous if you ever had the unfortunate fate of getting stuck under it. Nixium knew many slaves that had died that way.

 

Nixium was drawn back to reality when he felt a painful shock through his body. He glanced over his shoulder and was not surprised to see the taskmaster standing there with a controller and a frown on his face. “No slacking off! Master Baata wants to see progress. There will be no food or shelter for a worthless slave like you.” The taskmaster barked before moving on to his next victim. Nixium had over the years felt a burning feeling consume him. It ran through him like poison every time he saw the taskmaster or the disgusting slug called Master Baata. He hoped that one day they would get what they deserved. He hoped that they would die a painful death.

 

Nixium felt a reassuring hand on his neck, calling him from his dark thoughts. It was his mother’s. She smiled at him in the way that told him that he should be calm and everything would be fine. To Nixium, Daliya was his only light in this dark world. After two more hours of mining they were finally allowed to eat and warm their cold bodies. A hoard of slaves tiredly made their way to the little station that delivered food. Nixium looked behind him to see one of the older slave’s body get dragged away by some guards. It was not unusual for a slave to die after the long hours of hard work and no food. Death and pain… as a slave, Nixium lived it.

 

After waiting in line for a while Nixium and his mother received their food from a disgruntled Imperial. It was not much, some water and expanding bread with extra nutrition. Nixium dipped the small bread into the water to see it expand. They made their way to stand under one of the heat lamps. It was crowded as all the slaves wanted a chance to feel the warmth in their bones. Nixium looked at his mother who shivered under the lamp. She took small bites of her bread, clearly savoring it. It was a gray bread that didn’t taste anything but it was better than nothing. He tore his own bread into two pieces and offered the other to his mother. Daliya shook her head and looked at him with tired but kind eyes. “No, my starlight, you need it more than I. Eat, it will do you good.” She spoke softly before letting out a weak cough. Nixium had seen how his mother had grown weaker and weaker lately and it broke his heart, but it also made him terrified. What would happen if she died like so many others? He could handle to see the death of thousands but he knew that he would rather die than see his mother suffer the same fate.

 

As their meal came to an end they were allowed to have some free time to either sleep or as their taskmaster put it do what ever worthless maggots did. While his mother made her way to sleep in the crowded tents, Nixium made his way to the back of one of the smaller buildings. There he could look out on the cold, barren landscape with mountains of ice reaching for the sky like sharp nails. The wind howled and he had to wrap the thin, tarnished, coat he wore around his small frame. A star fell from the sky as Nixium looked up at the sky. He wished for a happier time where he and his mother could be free.

 

Nixium quickly left the thought behind him. He was here for something important. He took a stone from the ground and focused. Slowly he let the stone rise from his palm to hover above it. Nixium let out a satisfied chuckle and continued to watch as the stone hovered. With just a thought he made it spin around his hand. Nixium had discovered this power that he had just before he was made a slave. He had heard about the force through rumors and sometimes empty threats. He wondered sometimes if maybe he could control the force but quickly dismissed it as a fantasy. Nixium was a slave. He would never control the force. That was only for worthy people such as sith and jedis. Nixium let out a heavy sigh and let the little stone drop to the ground. He quickly made his way to the tent, bowing before every guard as he went. Nixium knew he could not flee anyway. His shock collar prevented him… also he would never leave his mother. He silently stepped over the sleeping bodies on his way to sleep next to his mother. Nixium let out a sigh of relief as he wrapped a protective arm around his mother who already was sleeping. Before sleep claimed him Nixium thought how lucky he was to still have his mother unlike so many others.

 

Nixium woke from his sleep with a startled sound. An Imperial soldier was blowing a whistle and gestured for them to get moving. Another day of hard work and digging into the cold mountains of Ilum. All the slaves made their way to the mines as the cold wind howled. The taskmaster was waiting for them like always. Nixium frowned but tried to hide it under his black, dirty hair. As all the slaves had gathered the taskmaster looked at them with a disapproving look. “Okay, slaves, today you will work even harder to get those crystals. Master Baata is coming to check upon your progress and he will not be happy if the Empire’s need is not met. Now get to work!” He shouted in that strained, annoying voice that Nixium had learned to hate.

 

Nixium guided himself and his mother to pick up the pickaxes and start digging. Despite having worked with this for years he only understood they were digging for some kind of crystals. Sometimes the crystals seemed to sing to him but he quickly dismissed it as the howling of the wind. Crystals do not sing and if they did Nixium probably would risk dying by running from the mines. Nixium was quickly pulled out from his thoughts when he heard a loud cough. His mother had a hard time picking up the pickaxe. He noticed she was weaker than usual today. It worried Nixium so he tried to work harder to make it seem like they both had worked just as much. He did not want to bring the wrath of the taskmaster down upon his mother, especially today when the taskmaster was extra pressed because of Master Baata’s arrival.

 

All the slaves worked until the beginning of the afternoon before Master Baata made his appearance. Master Baata was a large hutt who offered his expertise on the market to the Empire. He wore like most hutts golden jewelry on his fat fingers and slowly dragged his yellowy, greenish body over the cold grounds of the cave. Master Baata spoke in a rumbling dark voice to the taskmaster. The hutt refused to speak common and only spoke huttese which Nixium despised. When the hutt spoke it cut into Nixium’s ears like glass. To drown out the conversation he focused on picking furiously with his pickaxe at the wall. This would be a horrible mistake as he took his eyes from his mother for just a moment.

 

Nixium suddenly heard a pained whimper from his mother and turned to look around. The taskmaster was pushing down the button on the controller of his mother’s shock collar. He stood there with a haughty sneer. “No slacking off!” He barked as he let go of the button, but the damage was already done. Nixium’s mother slumped to the ground as the taskmaster turned to Master Baata to apologize for such laziness. With a horrified look Nixium slumped to the floor to help his mother from the ground, but she would not move. He shook her gently but she would not wake. In desperation he shook her more violently but she still would not move. Nixium let out a shaky breath as he put two fingers against her throat… He waited patiently for a pulse but to his despair no pulse was to be found. Nixium let out a heavy sob as he cradled his mother’s body. This could not be happening he thought to himself. She was the only thing great in this world. She could not be dead, but Nixium knew that she had gotten sick lately and that the shock from the collar must have stopped her warm, beating heart.

 

The taskmaster noticed Nixium’s cradling his mother’s body and went over to him with fast strides. “What did I tell you about slacking off, get to it!” He yelled, but it would be for the last time. “I do not care” Nixium whispered. “What did you say, slave?” the taskmaster hissed. “I said, I do not care!” Nixium yelled and looked over his shoulder with burning rage. He felt the same feeling as when he was making pebbles float, but this time it was darker, more powerful than he had ever felt before. It wrecked through his body as he let out a pained yell. The whole mine started to shake and Master Baata tried desperately to crawl out of the mine only to have the passage closed off by falling rocks. The whole cave was shaking and creaking as large rocks fell from the ceiling onto innocent slaves. The ceiling of the cave gave out and with a terrified scream the taskmaster, Master Baata, soldiers and all the slaves was buried underneath the rocks of the caved in mine.

 

For a while it was all quiet. The only sign that anyone had been there was a pickaxe sticking out of the rubble. Suddenly a slight shifting of the rocks could be heard as Nixium suddenly emerged from the closed off passage with his mother’s body over his shoulder. As Nixium’s eyes adjusted to the light he saw Imperial soldiers come running from far away to check what had happened. His instinct was to run, so he did. He would not let them catch him until he had given his mother a proper burial. Nixium let the rage he had felt before give him power as he run from the mine across the clear ice. The cold of Ilum bit into his body, but the pain and rage of his mother’s death held him warm. He only looked back to make sure the soldiers weren’t following him.

 

As it was coming close to nighttime Nixium stopped running. He had found a small cave where he could bury his mother. Slowly he made his way to the center of the cave. Nixium gently put down Daliya’s body and went to fetch some snow outside. Between fits of crying he went back and forth to fetch snow to put over his mother’s body. Nixium bit his lip as he looked at the pile of snow he had built. It was the least he could do after all the kindness his mother had bestowed upon him through the years. As a final gesture Nixium placed a stone on the pile of snow. He ripped a piece of cloth from his coat and wrapped around the stone as a gesture of farewell. Nixium tried walking away but he just could not muster. Come what may he thought. He did not care if the soldiers found him and killed him. He felt as good as dead anyway now that his mother was gone. With those thoughts he fell asleep crying to the memories of his mother. 

 

Nixium woke to Imperial Soldiers dragging him off the ground. His first instinct was to fight against his capturers but he quickly realized that it would be futile. “You better be worth the work, slave. Because of your little stunt in the mines your presence has been wished on Korriban.” One of the soldiers told him as he was being dragged out of the cave. The last thing he saw was the grave of his mother as they boarded the snow scooters to take him to the Ilum Spaceport. Was he not supposed to die? He was just a lowly slave, why would they afford to send him to Korriban for execution? Was his offense so great that he deserved such a grand death? His head was swimming with those thoughts as they made their way along the cold plains.


End file.
